Montee Ball's Player Profile

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2012 Profile

Montee Ball is peaking at just the right time for the Badgers and to go along with breaking the Big 10 single season td record he may be on the outside of the heisman race and pro scouts are surely to have taken notice. At 5ft11 210+lbs he is compact with a thick lower half and gives you the look of an every down back and after a 38 carry late season win he is showing with his performance that he in fact is an every down work house of a rb. Ball pretty much has the complete package, he runs hard between the tackles and can run through contact, he has a good burst and quickness to the outside and good footwork and agility to side step would be tacklers. He is a good playmaker out of the backfield and maybe his greatest strength is finding the end zone. Ball does a good job of picking his holes and is very durable, and has a good feel for a rb. He can pound it and wear a team down, than picks up large chunks of yards to put the team away.

The negatives for Ball might be that he may not be looked as a guy that has a high ceiling. His quickness and speed is good, but not great. He will not be a guy that excels in space or be a big play threat. He does not profile as a returner or 3rd down specialist. To get good value for Montee you might need to commit to giving him the ball 20 x per game and let him wear out the defense and move the chains. Playing at Wisconsin he has had the benefit of playing behind good o lines which may not be the same at the next level. Also, he has been inconsistent with his weight, this year at 210lbs it is distributed perfectly, last year at 235lbs he was affective as a bruiser but probably just a short yardage guy because he lacked the conditioning and elusiveness to be an every down back in the NFL.

Ball would be wise to strike while the iron is hot and go to the NFL as he is showing that he can be an every down back, rather than spend another year in Madison and risk injury and take time of what time of his NFL clock. At the very least Ball should be an affective short yardage rb, but I see him as a guy that can demand 25 carries and catches out of the backfield. As long as he can go to the right system, I think Montee has multiple 1,000 yard seasons in him. A decent NFL comparison would be Chrster Taylor.Profile submitted by: Tom Patterson